The Poker Million
In 2000, The Poker Million table debuted to 30 million viewers and contributed to widespread popularity of European poker. It was created by the UK’s Ladbrokes gaming group.
New-Shootout Format
The Poker Million is a no-limit Texas Hold’em “shootout” tournament. Shootout tournaments differ from standard tournaments in that starting tables do not rebalance as players are eliminated. Instead, each starting table is an independent “heat” which plays down to one player, who then advances to the next round.
History
In 2009 sponsorship was transferred from the Ladbrokes group to Full Tilt Poker. In 2011, the United States Department of Justice closed Full Tilt Poker for gambling fraud. The Poker Million event never returned.
Asian Pacific Poker Tour
The Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) was founded in 2006 and sponsored by PokerStars. The tour has held more than 110 major events in the Asia-Pacific region, including Macau, China, Manila, Philippines, Seoul, South Korea, Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is responsible for bringing the first major government-sanctioned real-money poker tournaments to Korea and China. The Macau, China Asian Poker Open is the largest poker tournament in Asia.
Latin American Poker Tour
The Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT) sponsored by PokerStars has had a very unpredictable history. Starting in 2008, it reached Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Panama, and Uruguay. Since its inception, the LAPT has gone on to become the most prestigious and renowned poker tour in Latin America.
The second season is perhaps most well-known for the cancellation of LAPT Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico, when the event was broken up by local government authorities. The third season of the LAPT was notable for another cancellation due to an earthquake in Viña del Mar, Chile.
North American Poker Tour
The North American Poker Tour (NAPT) was started in 2010 by PokerStars and it was televised on ESPN2. Players were able to enter the NAPT events by paying the entry fee or by playing online on satellites on PokerStars.net.
Season 2 played in early 2011 was suspended on April 15, 2011 as Black Friday hit and Pokerstars.com was seized and shut down. The third season of the NAPT returned in 2023 and was held at the Resorts World Las Vegas. In 2024, the tour will be held in Las Vegas.
Poker Origins